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Super Atragon

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Super Atragon is a two-part anime OVA made in 1995, with a total running time (excluding credits) of a little over 1.5 hours. Technically, it is a Humongous MechaSci-Fi work, but the Humongous Mecha here is a powerful, submarine-battleship named the Ra. It has the same plot premise as the old Japanese Sci-FiTokusatsu movie Atragon / Undersea Battleship, and is technically a revival of the franchise, but the similarities end there, with the Mu Civilization and Manda (and by extension, any connection to the Godzilla franchise) being adapted out.

The show opens with a prologue scene depicting the Ra in 1945, under the Imperial Japanese flag, engaging in a classic broadside-slugging match against an enemy submarine-battleship (under the American Flag), the Liberty. This scene also introduces our lead female protagonist, Annette, as well as her sister Avatar, her Evil Counterpart and the Big Bad. This is followed by a traditional TV Show opening scene that features an awesomely epic instrumental sound track. After which, the action skips to present day Antarctica, where story kicks off proper.

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The overall plot is: an advanced race of subterranean dwellers tested humanity by sending out two mysterious women along with two mysterious, but obscenely strong sources of power and seeing what they do with them. As this test occurred during WWII and both Japan and the U.S. obtained one of the power sources, it brought back eye-rollingly predictable results. The Subterraneans — or at least Avatar — decided that humanity is no longer to fit to live and enacted a plan to exterminate humanity by building a giant orbital ring that, once complete, will irradiate the entire surface of the Earth. Annette stopped this from happening in the 1940s by sending both herself and Avatar into comas, freeing the Ra to sacrifice itself to destroy the Liberty. But now, both sisters have awakened. Now, the only ship capable of battling the Subterraneans' technology is the Ra, rebuilt in all of its big-gunned, Diesel Punk glory.

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The OVA is known for being among very few animes that prominently feature a classic, 20th century-style, big-gun battleship engaged in slug-throwing combat. The bombastic soundtrack by Masamichi Amano (of Giant Robo and Princess Nine fame) is also memorable.

This show provides examples of:

Adapted Out: Because of how protective Toho is of their characters, the kaiju Manda is completely absent.

Do a Barrel Roll: The ocean-going Ra pulls one of these in her first engagement. Ra 's main guns cannot elevate high enough to shoot the enemy target. In order to elevate them to a high enough angle, they flood the the port side ballast tanks, tilting the entire ship another 45 degrees off-keel and bringing the guns to the desired elevation.

Don't Call Me "Sir": Tashibana says this verbatim when Go meets him for the first time in Antarctica.

Hollow Earth: Where a race of subterranean dwellers can produce kilometer-wide cylinders.

Hot-Blooded: Go Arasaka gets into a fight inside a helicopter, nearly punches the Ra's captain (his father) and impulsively steals a Diesel Punk seaplane to go rescue his girlfriend. All this while hamming up his lines, especially when impulsively going to rescue his girlfriend in the seaplane he jacked from the Ra.

Let's You and Him Fight: Avatar leads the U.N. fleet (read:Eagleland) to the doorstep of the Ra 's island base to commandeer the Undersea Battleship, then fakes an attack to bait the fleet into a full attack.

Limited Wardrobe: The entire cast wear their full dress uniforms/science-ey labcoats/wierd cape thingies for the entire show even when it would be impractical, such as for combat.

Given how the powers were introduced and how the story played out, the OVA might have been planned as a pilot for a follow-on TV series; this would explain the plot's continuing need to use the Ra's new ability every few minutes.

No Indoor Voice: Captain Hayate has volume control issues, even when issuing otherwise routine/mundane orders.

Captain Hayate(after a battle is over & the Ra is still airborne) "GO TO SURFACE MODE!"

Parental Abandonment: Go's father was a merchant marine captain that supposedly died when his ship capsized near Antarctica during Go's early childhood. Go's mother died later in life. His father is Captain Hayate.

Red Shirt Navy: The massive US-led, UN fleet gets swept from the ocean in one shot.

Ramming Always Works: The climax of the opening battle and the final battle: the Ra and Liberty turn to ram each other. In the 1940s, both ships are destroyed; in the final battle, the Liberty 's drill-missiles are foiled by the Ra 's rocket-anchors, freeing the Ra to plow through the Liberty 's bow, destroying her and killing Avatar.

Secret Test of Character: The two power sources sent to Earth's surface were ostensibly supposed to be this for all of humanity. Considering they were sent up during the middle of a raging war, and ended up in opposing hands, it comes off as more of a setup and Pretext for War than anyting else.

Schizo Tech: Modern mach 2 fighters and their missiles could not scratch the enemy's advanced weaponry. A fictional, WWII-style, seaplane armed with nothing but machine-guns could swat down several before being damaged.

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